Providence, RI 02901 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Providence, RI, ZIP 02901
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/11, roughly 226 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/30, about 199 frost-free days later.
Zone 7a (0 to 5°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Providence, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 7a around Providence has about 9 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
How much risk comes with planting early here
04/11 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/01 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/23 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Providence compares
At roughly 199 frost-free days, Providence places 17,972 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within RI, it ranks 12 of 79.
Learn more
local microclimates explains what one yard in Providence can differ from the 02901 normal, and zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 7a and Providence's frost date answer different questions.